2015 in Nigeria


The following lists events that happened during 2015 in Nigeria.

Incumbents

Federal government

Governors

Events

January

  • January 1 - A suicide bomber detonates his explosive belt at a church during a New Year's mass in Gombe killing only the bomber but hurting eight people.
  • January 3 - Fleeing villagers from a remote part of the Borno State report that Boko Haram had three days prior kidnapped around 40 boys and young men.
  • January 5 - News emerges that two days prior hundreds of Boko Haram militants had overrun several towns in northeast Nigeria and captured the military base in Baga.
  • January 8 - Boko Haram militants raze the entire town of Baga. Bodies lay strewn on Baga's streets with as many as 2,000 people having been killed. Boko Haram now controls 70% of the Borno State, which is the worst-affected by the insurgency.
  • January 9 - Refugees flee Borno State following the Boko Haram massacre in the town of Baga. 7,300 flee to neighbouring Chad while over 1,000 are trapped on the island of Kangala in Lake Chad. Nigeria's army vows to recapture the town, while Niger and Chad withdraw their forces from a transnational force tasked with combating militants.
  • January 10 - A female suicide bomber, believed to be aged around 10 years old, kills herself and 19 others, possibly against her will, at a market in the northeastern city of Maiduguri.
  • January 11 - Two female suicide bombers, each believed to be around 10 years old, kill themselves and three others at a market in the northeastern city of Potiskum.
  • January 17 - Following the Chad authorities decision to send troops to Nigeria and Cameroon to fight Boko Haram militants, the Russian ambassador to the country pledges to supply Cameroon with more modern weapons to combat the Islamist insurgents.
  • January 20 - Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau claims responsibility for the attack on the town of Baga, Nigeria in which an unknown number of civilians were killed.

February

  • February 2 - A female suicide bomber attacks minutes after the President leaves an election rally in the city of Gombe resulting in at least one death and 18 people injured.
  • February 7 - Nigeria postpones its [Nigerian Nigerian general election, 2015|general election, 2015|general election] for six weeks to allow its armed forces to control parts of the country currently controlled by Boko Haram.
  • February 15 - A suicide bomber kills seven and wounds 30 in the city of Damaturu.
  • February 16 - Nigeria regains the key town of Monguno from Boko Haram.

March

  • March 7 - A series of suicide bombings by Boko Haram in Maiduguri kills at least 54 people and wounds more than 140 others.
  • March 8 - Forces from Niger and Chad launch a ground and air offensive against Boko Haram Islamist militants in northeastern Nigeria.
  • March 28 - General elections are held. Gunmen kill at least 15 voters including an opposition house of assembly candidate for Dukku in Gombe.
  • March 29 - Voting in the general election for a second day due to delays and malfunctioning equipment. Boko Haram attacks kill 43 people.
  • March 30 - In the general election, challenger Muhammadu Buhari leads by two million votes with three-quarters of the states having their votes counted but votes from some of President Goodluck Jonathan's strongest states in the Niger Delta have yet to be counted.

April